KINGDOM CITY, Mo. - The North Callaway Thunderbirds didn't allow the muck to mess with their mission.
Despite the middle of the field deteriorating into a muddy mess, North Callaway still managed to rush for 193 yards as a team and the Thunderbirds celebrated homecoming on a rainy Friday night by handing Clopton/Elsberry its first loss of the season 20-6.
North Callaway - getting back on track after a 36-14 loss at South Callaway last week - improved to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Eastern Missouri Conference. The loss dropped Clopton/Elsberry to 4-1 on the season and 2-1 in the EMO.
"We had to change some blocking schemes up front, some things that we were doing," Thunderbirds head coach Kevin O'Neal said. "It was kind of hard for our big guys, once it got sloppy, for them to move around.
" Our backs were a little bit slower to the hole, but we were still explosive. I'm proud of our guys - when we changed those things, they adjusted well and we did the things we needed to do."
Senior running back Wyatt Branson and junior running back Adam Reno ignited North Callaway's ground attack, combining for 164 yards and all three of the Thunderbirds' scores. Branson produced a game-high 127 yards on 12 carries and his 31-yard touchdown run on the final play of the first quarter got North Callaway started.
Reno finished with just 37 yards in five attempts, but he scored on a 4-yard run with 4 minutes, 19 seconds left in the first half to send the Thunderbirds into halftime with a 14-6 edge. He then came up with an interception from his linebacker spot midway through the fourth quarter and sealed North Callaway's win on a 13-yard touchdown run with 3:49 left in the game.
Senior running back JT Higgins also delivered some critical carries for the Thunderbirds, logging 43 yards in six attempts.
"Those two guys (Branson and Reno) are dynamic football players and having them both healthy - and both going at the same time - it makes it easier for me to call plays," O'Neal said. "We weren't able to throw the ball like we had planned because of some of the elements, but we could run the ball and lean on those two guys.
"JT gave us some tough yards whenever we needed him to get tough yards. I talked to the kids about playing as a family and I think they did that. Nobody cared who got the ball, they just ran hard when they got it and blocked when the other guy had it."
While North Callaway was able to compensate as much as possible for the conditions, Clopton/Elsberry and its dazzling senior quarterback, Stephen Talbert, had trouble gaining traction. Talbert - who accounted for almost 400 yards of total offense and five touchdowns in a 42-37 loss to the Thunderbirds at Clopton/Elsberry last year - finished with a meager 13 yards on 21 carries Friday night.
Talbert supplied the IndianHawks with their only score on a 6-yard touchdown run with 7:06 remaining in the second quarter. He experienced more success putting the ball in the air, completing 14-of-29 passes for 107 yards, but the North Callaway defense sacked Talbert three times and forced him to throw three interceptions.
The Thunderbirds created five turnovers and limited Clopton/Elsberry to 10 yards rushing as a team on 29 carries.
"That's a good offense that we faced and that's a good quarterback," O'Neal said. "I'm proud of the way my defense played. We stressed some things all week for those guys - we needed to get better in pass coverage and we needed to rush the passer, and I thought we did those things.
"I thought we played gritty on the defensive side of the ball and guys made plays when they had to."
North Callaway goes on the road this week for an EMO contest at Wright City (1-4, 1-2). The Wildcats picked up their first victory of the season Friday night, a 30-24 conference triumph at Van-Far/Community R-6.
"The last couple of years we've kind of gone back and forth - we'd win a game and get satisfied, and not work as hard the next week," O'Neal said. "We've got to come out and work hard next week and continue to improve."
Ryan Boland can be reached at (573) 826-2422, or by email at [email protected].